Sometimes the hero is not late
by Eminda
Summary: He's even earlier than would be expected of any sane person. But then again, who are talking about? One Hokage, one guard, one clan head, two ANBU captains and two advisers embark on a journey. Back in time, that is. Time travel, humour and easter eggs
1. The Return of the Prodigal Son

A/N: Hello everyone, nice seeing you again. Well, I'm not dead, and I'm even writing.

This story is born because I lost a bet. Or, more precisely, I promised to write a story, but it happened to be so huge and complicated, that I fight with it for three years and my wonderful muse is tired of waiting. So during our last meeting that sad fact was put right under my shameful nose and unable to fight the guilt, I promised to write something smaller.

Well, my friend happened to be interested in Naruto Time Travel stories and mostly they left her discontented. So I met three conditions: 1. Time-skip into genin days. 2. Sasuke in it. 3. No parody.

HOLY MOTHER OF EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY WHY WAS I SO LAZY?!

I admit, time travel stories are niice, because usually heroes are so cool in them, but Holy Grail, Sasuke?! I really can't stand him, bleh. As for non-humour… better that It's For a Good Cause, I Swear by Sarah 1281 I won't manage, so it's not a mortal hit.

Well, the first chapter is sort of an intro, which causes one purpose - to explain how emo-revenge-obsessed happened to be it that story and the cause for time travel must be pretty big. I could just write a ridiculously huge A/N (what am I doing now?), but noo, I like you, my reader, too much.

I still need to clarify some canon-alterations which I most possibly will be unable to explain in the fic.

1. Sharingan is not all-mighty (bleeh). And Uchihas are also not so mary-sueish.

2. Less power-obsessed Uchihas running around with the FRIGGING RIDICULOUS SWORD

3. No ninja (masters of hidden murder and stealth) will be shouting their attacks at the top of their lungs. (STEALTH!) They need to keep their breath steady anyway, or do ninja have special chakra-empowered lungs to babble while fighting? No ridiculously long explanations during fights, I'm sorry, but it's a text, not manga, I have more freedom.

4. In order to liven up the story a little, prepare for some easter eggs and lots of characters from other fandoms.

5. Me headcanon likes Naruto the fuuinjutsu master not because Kishimoto said so, but because fuuinjutsu is all about creativity, and what is Naruto if not creative?

If you're wondering at my choice of the characters, I'll explain it later.

**Naruto is not mine, time travel also. Even the alphabet is not mine.**

* * *

One morning, an enemy entered Konoha. Well, enemies entered Konoha on a daily basis, naturally, but that time it wasn't a common enemy - it was Uchiha Sasuke. The great village was blissfully unaware of the presence of their former darling, until the man reached the Hokage tower. ANBU wasn't going to be fooled by some henge, especially ANBU captains.

"What are you doing here?"

Hyuuga Neji, huh.

"I need to see your Hokage. And I am not going to tell why."

Somebody shrieked, feeling dread from two killing intents clashing.

"Then I am not going to let you in." The ANBU replied, shifting his stance ever-so-slightly.

_As if he was going to._

The air shifted again. "What a visitor," the newcomer drawled, looking through Sasuke's henge with a single Sharingan.

Whatever calmness the Uchiha possessed snapped at that moment, causing him to lose the grip on his jutsu.

"That's much better," said his former sensei (if Hatake Kakashi ever deserved the title). "Such scowl fits only on your real face."

There was again a shriek as the Uchiha was recognised. Kakashi's grip on the kunai loosened a fraction.

Uchiha pride aside, Sasuke had little chance here. He had felt no need to use his chakra sparingly and now suffered the consequences. Whatever he might think of Hatake Kakashi as a teacher didn't mean the man was a weak ninja. The Hyuuga couldn't be tossed aside as well.

"I came to see your Hokage," he repeated.

Kakashi smiled acidly, not missing the pronoun. "Do you have an appointment?" He asked with poisonous politeness and smiled again at Sasuke's withering look.

And then with a slight woosh of wind the Hokage himself arrived.

"What's going on?" Naruto was already in a Sage mode, probably to see what got two of his top ninja so riled up. He looked at his unappointed visitor, frowned and nodded, releasing his stance.. "Let him go inside, you're attracting too much attention already."

* * *

Once they made it from curious eyes and ears, Naruto turned to the unexpected guest. "What brings you here?"

Sasuke tensed and shot a glance at the ANBU, who stood right behind his leader now. After a few heartbeats of silence, the Rokudaime finished studying his wayward (former, now, wasn't he?) teammate and sighed.

"Okay, leave us alone."

"That's not very wise," Kakashi warned.

"Have some faith in your Hokage, will ya?" Naruto mumbled. "Have some free time and don't feel guilty. Now," he stressed the word, showing it as a clear dismissal. He looked after the displeased shinobi and activated masked seal on the floor. "Now all the privacy you can get here."

"First," Sasuke began, "I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing this for Itachi's dream, so don't get any ideas."

"I have plenty of ideas, but very few of them are about you," Naruto shot back.

They stared at each other for the next couple of minutes.

"You would find it interesting to look at the statue again," Sasuke said finally and registered Naruto's paling face without any kind of pleasure. "Have you already?"

The Hokage shook his head. "No time. But- have you been there yourself?"

"Yes."

"Nothing strange?"

"Not for me," Sasuke blinked and repeated to himself that Itachi would tell his beloved Konoha's Hokage everything, "Karin and Juugo had told me they were poisoned before they died."

Naruto's face became grey even under his tan. He took a deep breath and fell silent, looking somewhere behind Sasuke. "Did you have a professional medic look at you?"

The Uchiha only raised his brow at the question. Any medic good enough would strike him down at the first opportunity, and he had absolutely no desire to deal with missing-nins.

"How do you even live with all the trouble following you?" Naruto asked and Sasuke raised his brow even higher to indicate that he considered the question to be highly hypocritical.

The Hokage released the seal. "I need a medic to look at you before I go- What the heck?" he cried as the room flooded with people. Well, not exactly flooded, but three aggressive ninja would be enough to make a stadium feel tiny.

"I'd ask you that," Shikamaru drawled, not bothering to be respectful. "Half of the village is panicking, and you decide to shut yourself up with him."

Naruto frowned and sagged slightly, but his tone was firm. "I need to leave Konoha for a while, so make a rumour that it was… erm… my stupid prank and now I'm lying ill due to Sakura's… well, due to Sakura. And call for her."

Nobody moved, all stares at the leader. "You cannot leave," Neji informed finally, seeming to be the only one with enough will to not strangle the Hokage right there and then.

"I have to."

Shikamaru stepped in. "Tomorrow is your birthday, if you disappear right before the festival no amount of false rumours will be able to calm the civilians. And am I right and you intend to "leave Konoha for a while" with a nukenin?"

Naruto winced. "It doesn't-"

"It surely does! Get yourself together, Hokage, you have no right to abandon your village."

"Calm down and let me finish!" Naruto replied, straightening and squaring his shoulders.

His advisor deflated under the Hokage's stare. "My apologies."

"Did anyone send for Sakura? Oh, Kami," the Rokudaime said, momentarily creating a clone. "First, it _doesn't_ matter if Sasuke is nukenin or not. Considering the information, I'll go either way. Second, I'm _not_ abandoning my village, you may safely refrain from reminding me of my rank. And third. I'm going now, and by dawn I'll be back."

"You are not going alone." Neji said after the Konoha shinobi understood the Hokage's I-Made-A-Decision tone of voice.

"I'm going to travel fast," Naruto shrugged. "And all of you have business in the village."

"Sparrow is able," Neji replied, and Shikamaru smiled thinly.

"Sparrow is able," The Nara nodded, followed by Kakashi. "And that's the only condition I'll accept."

The mighty Rokudaime Hokage looked as if he was deadly sick.

"Sakura is coming." Neji informed. So he had his Byakugan active that whole time.

"What's the matter, Naruto?" they heard her worried voice before the girl herself stepped in, stopping dead in her tracks at the sight of her long lost classmate. She pursed her lips and turned away from the Uchiha. "You called, Hokage-sama?" she asked.

"I need you to inspect him, Sakura." Naruto said calmly and rather quietly. "Look for any traces of hostile chakra, and hurry up."

She looked dubious, but complied, frowning when Sasuke took one step back.

Naruto grit his teeth. "Oh, for Rikudo's sake, stay still, there were no orders to kill you."

But Sasuke still hesitated, catching Sakura's look of veiled displeasure at the words. He wasn't comfortable with anybody getting too close to him for a long time, and now to let a high-level medic near his vitals seemed pure insanity. Sakura had a reputation to be mindlessly cruel when provoked since Academy days, when she hadn't known yet how to cut a person's nervous system with one gentle touch of chakra.

"I'm going only to inspect," she stated calmly. The heavy 'that's only for now' hung in the air.

Sakura's chakra was light and calming, contrasting the medic's cold eyes.

"I've found nothing, Hokage-sama," kunoichi reported and walked away at the first sign of dismissal. Her back was rigid and tense.

The heavy silence hung in the air.

Naruto clapped."All right! Get the Sparrow and to the dawn I'm back! Hokage's word!" He smiled brightly, although that obviously was fooling nobody. "Hurry, hurry, the sooner I leave the sooner I return. Thanks for the visit, good luck!" The Hokage waved at Sasuke, and the Uchiha couldn't refrain from blinking in astonishment. Sure, he wasn't going to play some guide, but that cheerful dismissal was unexpected.

"Wait," he said, folding his arms, "I gave you the information. I need your answer."

"You mean now? I haven't seen anything yet, so what information? Or are you going to travel with us? Can you keep up?"

Although the question wasn't meant as offensive, Sasuke bristled. Still the moron could shake him out of his calm. "Try me."

"Okay." Naruto shrugged and leaped out of the door. Outside, "Sparrow" was already waiting. With some difficulty, Sasuke recognized the boy who filled Sasuke's own place in Team 7. Naruto nodded at the ANBU and grabbed their arms.

Next moment they were outside the village, near the Ice Springs.

"Let's go!" Naruto cried sharply and darted forward, giving Sasuke no time to look closely on the Hiraishin seal under the rock.

The question about keeping up certainly wasn't offensive. Sasuke might be faster in combat, but Naruto was an insanely fast runner, not to mention endless Uzumaki stamina. After the first three hours of constant speeding up, Sasuke gave up and followed Sparrow's example, who was flying on an ink bird. Seeming as both of his companions had no trouble now, Naruto decided to accelerate more.

It was getting ridiculous.

"What an insane creature," Sasuke's hawk noted, and was absolutely right.

* * *

When the grey crater of the Juubi's blast got in sight, Naruto stopped and signed for his guard to land.

"Get down too!" Uzumaki hollered at Sasuke, but he pretended not to notice. "Your summon won't go further anyway, don't be a child."

"He's right," Kataka said before Uchiha could retort, "I got you here only because humans never before made such a good competition." The hawk landed graciously and went to his realm.

"Stay here, would you?" Naruto offered softly and went to the grotesque statue. Sasuke frowned, noting tiny changings in its position, and proceeded to follow.

"Stay there!" Uzumaki shouted angrily, turning back. Sparrow wasn't moving, seemingly having received his orders.

"It didn't poison me then, it won't now." Sasuke said, releasing his seal.

Naruto didn't seem too surprised, he just looked at the Uchiha for some time and ran again, that time not bothering to check.

* * *

**It's even worse than we thought.** Kurama growled, his tails twitching.

'No shit' Naruto thought in reply.

He could practically feel the Juubi inside the statue whispering, whistling and howling. It had been mad when he applied the first seal, now it was beyond human understanding.

'Do we have any chance?'

**We didn't have it then, why should we now? And no, Gyuuki is not able to help either, Naruto. The poison is already spreading.**

'I cannot think up any seal to block it,' Naruto thought.

**Because there isn't one. Face the truth, Naruto, it's too late.** Kurama said sadly

'I know' the Jinchuuriki replied and the mere admission hurt more than Shinju's chakra, which tried to eat Naruto's constantly regenerating lungs and eyes.

**Go back, Naruto, no need to torture yourself.**

'You're right.'

Naruto was stopped short when a clawed hand grabbed his shoulder.

"What did you see?" Sasuke demanded, and even that inhuman form of his terrified Naruto less than the dissolving Shinji behind.

"I saw less than you, I have quite common eyes." Naruto shot back and sped away.

"I can help you." he heard and halted, turning to the frowning Sasuke.

"Sorry?"

"I can help you, I said. I have Itachi's dream to keep, and- and he believed in you." Uchiha seemed to almost choke on the words.

Naruto's eyes were hooded. "I need to think. Alone and in quiet."

* * *

**Where are you going to find quiet if these two are short of killing each other?**

'I wish I knew'

Naruto was slumped under a tree, half a mile away from the crater, but the ground here already felt poisonous.

'I wish I defeated the bastard then. There was a possibility not to let him make the seals. I damn hate regretting and wishing, but I wish.'

Sasuke was a master of impassive stares, but ANBU mask gave Sparrow a big advantage. He was half tempted to walk away, but whatever made Uzumaki I-Laugh-At-Your-Stupid-Hairstyle-Madara-And-Taste- Some-More-Rasengan Naruto look so defeated and doomed deserved some waiting. Even if the Konoha's Kage was acting like a drama queen.

Sparrow twitched and flashed away. Sasuke frowned and cocked his head, detecting a pair of well masked shinobi. They flared for five seconds, jutsu clashing, then everything went silent again.

"Jeez, what jerks, couldn't wait for a half an hour?" Naruto moaned, watching as Sparrow calmly tied nins to the nearest tree. "Should have returned to Konoha, dammit."

"I doubt there will be others attempting to kill you, now that it's clear you're the Hokage."

Both Naruto and Sparrow turned to Sasuke, incredulous. Considering Sparrow's mask, it was quite a feat.

"Of course there will be more, now that it's clear that I _am_ the Hokage," Uzumaki replied and shook his head at Sasuke's furrowed brow. "I smashed half of their country into nothing, how do you think they should feel?"

Sasuke stood perfectly quiet, trying to adjust the situation. "Usually people feel gratitude."

"Well, when they face off something and then somebody defends them, probably, but thankfully they weren't there when we fought, and they don't know what we fought, so naturally they'd blame us. Whom else?" Naruto shrugged casually. "Besides, it's not like they do not have a point. We did blast half of their fields and plantations away, not to mention chakra poisoning from Bijuu bombs."

The perfect, iron grip Sasuke always had on his emotions blasted away. Probably just like those fields and plantations.

It was idealistic, it was accepting, it was stupidly, ridiculously honorable, but it was honest, and it was _damn. Naruto._

Those blasted fools were dense to not care what could hit them, to not pay any interest to possible dangers, only because half a thousand shinobi met their death here.

Maybe that's why Itachi held him in such high regard.

"Is it a common occurrence?" Sasuke asked finally, finding himself eager to slap the Hokage.

"Well, three countries are after my head." Naruto scratched his neck sheepishly.

Or beat him to the ground.

Come to think about it, Sasuke wanted to do it for a damn long time.

No wonder Itachi asked him to…

"Then I'm going with you."

Naruto just stared at him with a still face. "You're going where with me?"

"To Konoha. You are going to get yourself killed." And Itachi's dream would be lost to some retard like Hatake.

The Rokudaime looked at him very, very long, a far cry from the boy who had promised to get Sasuke back even if it'd take broken limbs.

"You do realize that it's not my place to make decisions like that, don't you?" Naruto finally asked. "I have a village to listen to."

"You have council." Sasuke said accusingly, feeling strangely betrayed.

"Of course I do," There was again the same incredulous look on Naruto's face. "How am I supposed not to be some control-freak? A Hokage cannot just order what they want. And I won't ask every villager for the opinion," Naruto scoffed, "don't be ridiculous."

'It's you who is ridiculous' was Sasuke's childish thought.

"My council and my advisers I trust without any doubt, Sasuke, and I need them to trust me. So if it's not for for your liking, I'm sorry - but I cannot bid the village to your tastes."

The feeling of betrayal and disorientation grew. "So what do you choose - your title or your promise, which you boasted you would keep no matter what?"

"Did the seal finally screw your brain? Kami, Sasuke, don't dare to place me in front of such a choice. Have you ever cared to think why there are no hunter nins from Konoha or Suna or Kiri after you? I am perfectly loyal to my promises. Make up your mind already, you go or you don't."

Naruto scoffed.

"Although you always were like that, I take my words back. You have whatever long you need."

Sasuke literally saw red, because the words weren't even said and meant as offence. No, they were simply stated facts, without vile and much emotion.

Sasuke wasn't about acceptance at all, so he didn't believe it ever existed. He was blatantly showed the opposite today, and Naruto had been disgustingly honest and open and easy-to-read. No, not easy to read, but easy to detect lie - as he had always been. Terrifyingly, horribly accepting Naruto, who didn't accuse people because he didn't expect of them more than a person was wont to do. That was what made him such a beloved Hokage, what inspired Itachi so.

And terrified Sasuke to no end.

"I'll go." He said, still in shock.

Naruto blinked. "I'll use Hiraishin. If you go the same way, please don't kill each other."

Sparrow turned to the Hokage. "It's too dangerous to travel at that distance in one jump."

"I beg you," Naruto scoffed. "Of course I left a few kunai on the way here, haven't you noticed?"

Sparrow seemed slightly baffled, because apparently he hadn't. Sasuke was ashamed to admit the same.

With the swirl of light and chakra Naruto jumped away.

* * *

Naruto had two advisers and a small council of five. However, such case clearly demanded for the whole of clan heads and civilian representatives.

And gossips would be worse than anything he had seen.

Pausing to pick his kunai, Naruto sniffed the air.

**The rain is coming.**

'Maybe tomorrow's celebration will be cancelled.'

**Don't even hope**

Kurama laughed and Naruto smiled in return.

* * *

Shikamaru still waited for him in his office, which meant that the laid-back Nara was really pissed or on edge. Or both.

"How did it go?"

"Well, they cheated. Used birds," Naruto sniffed. "Bastards. And Sasuke suddenly wants to bodyguard me."

Shikamaru seemed just as appalled as Naruto felt, though undoubtedly over different facts.

"What did you reply?"

"That I cannot answer him by myself. So if he's really serious, they should be here sometime soon. I asked them not to kill each other really nicely, would they listen to it?"

"What? You are not serious, Naruto, you cannot yield to him because of the childhood rivalry or long ago given promise."

"I didn't yield, okay? I didn't say 'Yes' and drag him here, the bastard is free to go wherever he feels like. And if I go back on my promise, how am to trust myself?

Naruto turned away. "Besides I really have no intention to decide it by myself."

Shikamaru's shoulders sagged. "But you cannot parade him in front of the Main Council. The civilians will panic."

"Your ideas?" Naruto still looked somewhere else.

"I have plenty of them. We'll call for our small council, decide what to do together, and afterwards I'll talk with him."

"You are really mad, aren't you? I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise for something you didn't do or cause," Shikamaru clasped Rokudaime's shoulder. "I'll go fetch everybody."

"Geesh, who are you and what did you do to my adviser?" Naruto cried. "I'll do it myself."

* * *

Naruto's small and quick-thinking council of five consisted of people who knew how to make decisions. But even they would have a hard time with the current case.

"Sasuke decided he wants to bodyguard me." Naruto started without preamble.

The Hyuugas stared, Sakura stared, Tsunade stared. Kakashi opened his book. "Either I am delusional or you met some other Sasuke."

The Hokage shot his former teacher a withering look.

"What did you reply?" Tsunade asked with barely concealed disgust.

"That I need your opinion. And although I pretty much know it, I would like to hear it."

"What are his reasons?" Hinata asked. "Do they have anything to do with your trip?"

This time Naruto directed a Look at Neji. "Partly. I stumbled on a pair of hunter-nins, as usual. And he decided I am too easy to kill." he finished with loathing.

"Oh, no, what are his real reasons?" Kakashi interjected mildly. "Sasuke decided that long ago, if I am not mistaken."

Naruto looked uncomfortable.

"And where did you went today?" Sakura frowned.

Knowing that Sai would tell them, Naruto replied. The tension increased twice.

"Why would he ask to travel there? What did you find?" Sakura stood up. "And he better has good reasons for his request, I am too tempted to cut off his spinal nerves."

"How the hell would I know? I have no Sharingan, and everything looks the same."

Kakashi looked at him but kept silent.

"I think it's safer to kill him." Neji said and received a nod of confirmation from Tsunade. "And we did start without Sai."

"We also started without Sasuke-san," Hinata added, unfazed by cringing at her politeness, "wouldn't it be better to listen to him? He's a man of purpose, I wonder what prompted him to request that."

"He's a man of rotten mind and honour." Neji spoke through his teeth.

"But Hinata-san has a point. We need to talk to Sasuke-kun to be fair." Kakashi said. "We cannot be unfair, can we?"

Thus Sasuke was greeted by the Hokage's advisors, while Sai was politely invited to join the rest and probably not beat their Hokage.

"Hello again, Sasuke." Kakashi said. The Uchiha noted the absence of any book.

"I need to hear your request and the reasons behind him." Shikamaru's eyes were sharp and loathing.

"I made no request. I simply stated that Naruto is too reckless and," Sasuke spat the alien word, "honorable to even kill the hunters after his head."

"That is none of your business."

"Aah, calm down, Shikamaru, that is clearly Sasuke's business. I wonder, maybe Naruto misinterpreted his words and Sasuke just meant that he must be the one to kill Naruto. That, I can believe."

Kakashi calmly met Sasuke's burning glare.

"We seem to be in a confusion, Sasuke," The shinobi went on. "I personally think that you're after Naruto just like those hunter nins. Am I right?"

The nukenin only kept on glaring a hole through his skull.

"That will not do, Sasuke. If you really have any interest in Naruto you must let us know, because I'm not going to expose my Hokage to someone like you without a solid reason."

Sasuke turned to Shikamaru. "But you are perfectly alright with exposing your Hokage to someone like him?" he nodded at Kakashi.

Nara's brows shot up. "As you see. If you're wondering what's the difference, I am not even going to waste my time."

"Me neither. I am here not to pledge my loyalty to you." Sasuke sneered.

"I don't need it, but if you intend to live in Konoha, you are to pledge your loyalty to the Hokage, and I doubt it exists at all."

Shikamaru looked at him hard, again. "I'll let you near Naruto if you swear on your eyes."

Kakashi scoffed. "That's not the most important. I accept if Sasuke swears on his brother's will and honour."

Sasuke pinked with fury, and Shikamaru secretly marveled at the jounin's ability to perceive.

"That is the reason you even bother, isn't it? If you publicly swear, I'll accept. Oh, don't pale so much, Sasuke, I won't make you shout your oaths from the top of the Hokage's tower, but there are people who would dearly love to hear it."

Kakashi stood up, looked at his former pupil and went out.

* * *

One evening before the Rokudaime Hokage's twenty third birthday, Uchiha Sasuke swore on his brother's memory, honour and dream to follow him and accept as his Hokage.

Kakashi and Shikamaru looked far too pleased with themselves, Neji and Sai looked disbelieving but accepting, Hinata looked so polite nobody could guess at her thoughts, Tsunade and Sakura looked murderous.

And Naruto looked like he wished the earth could swallow him up. Or hiraishin out of the room as soon as possible.

"Do we even need all that drama?" he asked meekly.

Sai ignored the remark. "That's all very good, but how can Uchiha-san fit in Konoha?"

"As an ANBU." Shikamaru yawned.

Both Neji and Sai looked at him and chorused "No."

"My men are not going to like it, Hokage order or not," The Hyuuga shook his head.

"And Uchiha-san has been in our bingo books for too long for mine to be trusting." Sai added.

Hinata frowned. "But we cannot expose Sasuke-san to the villagers. And even ANBU gossip."

Her cousin looked aghast, but didn't argue.

"I wasn't talking about him joining ANBU and taking missions." Shikamaru was looking at the ceiling. "I answered the question how can he fit into Konoha."

It took the council the entire of two seconds to get his idea.

"Some special mask, then? I am not too eager to consider Uchiha-san to be part of my squad, and I bet Neji-san feels the same."

"Need to install a voice alterer."

"Puberty did it for you."

"Sasuke-san has never been prone to talk a lot anyway."

"I still don't like that, and I'm not going to heal both of you, you hear me?"

"Gosh, obaa-chan, when was the last time I needed it?"

"More importantly, where's he going to live?"

Kakashi looked at the Hokage with alarming affection. "If Sasuke is Hokage's charge now and vice versa, it's only logical for him to live in the immediate vicinity. Hokage mansion is big."

Naruto went ashen, and even Sasuke, all the time picturing Itachi to refrain from snapping, leveled the adviser with his best Die-Long-And-Prosper glare.

"That's for all the bother we got today." Shikamaru nodded. "If you won't be able to keep somebody on leash, Konoha doesn't stand a chance."

"I am going to cut your nerves one by one at the first sight of disloyalty." Sakura declared finally and everybody fell silent. "Naruto, I hope you won't regret it tomorrow. I need to go, my shift is about to start."

The woman rose gracefully, gave her Hokage a small bow, another one to the rest of the counsil, and for newly accepted fellow shinobi she had a great look, full of venom and promise.

Naruto heaved a sigh and pressed a hand to his right temple. "If that's all, I suggest a break for a few days. By the way, any ideas as to who send to Kumo?"

Hinata coughed politely and smiled at the Hokage, indicating her intent to leave. The Hyuugas rose and bowed together, followed by still frowning Tsunade.

"And I still have some business to deal with. Have a good night," Sai smiled at Naruto's I-hate-you.

"I have one idea," Kakashi drawled, and with an overly interested "You don't say" Shikamaru followed.

It surely didn't seem as though they were abandoning their Hokage

Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"You sure know how to make one's life a hell, don't you?"

* * *

The mask they gave Sasuke was grey without any pattern, the inside covered in complicated seals, eyeholes shadowed. The rest of outfit was just as dull and undistinguishing, seals here and there, a pair of sheaths and a few hidden weapon pouches.

"The seals will hide your chakra signature," Naruto sniffed. "And don't forget about the hood, you stupid duck-butt."

The new Hokage's guard at first terrified half of the village out of their wits, especially considering the fact that he didn't even bother to hide, following Naruto's bright figure like a shadow of doom.

Then people got used to him, as they always do, with everything and in every situation, and Konoha opened itself in front of its wayward son fully.

Naruto, as always, gave puzzle after puzzle, never ceasing to stun people with the unique way his mind worked. Among people he was just the same as he was at home - thoughtful and attentive one moment, cheerful and goofy next. He dove into his duties with that same resolve that had always led him everywhere and got victorious, at the same time never ceasing muttering complaints about ungrateful brats and slacking advisers. Uzumaki Naruto was considered one of the most dangerous Kage ever lived, not mentioning the rest of the shinobi world, but every time the fact was mentioned, Naruto got flustered and changed the subject clumsily.

And weeks passed, bringing silly sense of safety and hope. Weeks grew into months, month morphed to become a year. Somewhere during that year Sasuke received a punch and a permission to visit the closed-off Uchiha compound. "Happy birthday, shovel face!" Naruto declared and frowned at the pile of D-ranks.

Chuunin Exams were the bright buoys, mainly because Naruto felt obliged to accompany the Konoha genins to the villages, and that caused Sasuke to curse his love for Itachi to heaven, because protecting someone with a bunch of dense brats ready to get underfoot was trying.

"I'm still a genin." Naruto snickered once, sitting next to Kazekage. "I remember on my first Chuunin Exam I promised to become Hokage no matter what. "

Mizukage, who was situated on Gaara's right, smiled at him. "I am quite sure we would've seen an interesting exam if the participants weren't so scared at the prospect of fighting you. Almost all my jounins refused to apply their teams."

Naruto slumped slightly, resting his chin on an open palm. "Not fair! I also want to have fun."

Gaara let out a sigh which in his cause indicated a snort.

* * *

With time the first signs of an oncoming disaster became visible. Maybe because of Sasuke being so close for so long time, or maybe because of his natural power of observation.

Naruto was becoming restless. He composed himself more and shut himself in his fuuinjutsu room every evening. He drawed elements of seals every free minute, but hid them from anybody. Too bad Naruto wasn't sneaky enough to hide from Sasuke.

The last drop was one quite unassuming morning, when Sasuke was woken by a deep wired instinct under the name Something Wrong/Someone Near. He got up groggily, not bothering to put on his cloak and fully expecting to find Naruto doing something stupid with the help of a couple of clones. Or a woman.

Ow, that mental image is disgusting.

Instead he found four people staring dumbfounded at the Hokage's empty bed, a couple of kunai in the pillow and an impaled sheet. They didn't even manage to cry in surprise when the killing intent hit them.

After wiping his bloodied hand on a shredded sheet, Sasuke frowned and looked around. Naruto could be idle and lazy, but not to the extent of hiding somewhere when his home was invaded.

By the time the Hokage condescended to show up in his torn room, blinking owlishly at the mess, the ANBU forces were in uproar.

"What's going on?" The Rokudaime asked and shrank back under Kakashi's smile.

"We need to talk," the adviser crooned, and Naruto almost whimpered.

"I wanted to spend some time alone! It's not my fault these stupid jerks decided to show up at that same moment. By the way, shovel face, was there really any need to wash my room in blood?"

Sasuke sent his best despising glare from behind his mask.

Sakura on the other hand wasn't wont to keep silent when crossed. "You can be alone in your mansion!"

"I can't! The shovel face lives there!"

"That's the whole idea of keeping you safe! Where were you?"

Naruto blinked.

"On the monument. There is something inspiring in promising to show everybody what you're worth and then like "Hey, that's my head I'm sitting on! Cool!" he snickered.

"Don't keep me for a fool!" Sakura hollered. "We looked there first thing!"

Naruto snapped his teeth helplessly under her furious glare. "All right, all right, I was in the Fuuma Hot Springs, just don't kill me, I can't possibly have any kind of private life with the shovel face around, can I?"

Sakura stared and stared.

"You were… having your… private life… in the Fuuma Hot Springs?" she straightened from her intimidating position and looked at the Rokudaime. "Well, that's sensible, I guess. Oh, Kami, you are twenty four, aren't you?"

Naruto sniffed. "That's really mean."

Sasuke moved to the only member of the small council who knew how to be unbiased to the limit. Hinata was looking at their ruler with the mild interest, Neji was glaring at the advancing Sasuke.

"How can I help you, Sasuke-san?" she asked complaisantly. To some extent, her politeness was expected, if Sasuke's memory was sound (and it definitely was), Hinata was something timid and afraid to insult, but the young woman with the always calm face wasn't timid or afraid. She was just polite and attentive, another Konoha enigma.

He indicated to the door. Hinata's right brow did a slight move and the clan head shook her head slightly. "Later."

"I promise not to scare you like that, satisfied?" Naruto shouted, jumping from his seat.

* * *

"So?" Hinata asked politely, standing near the silent shadow, while Naruto proceeded to eat yet another plate of takoyaki, resisting the attempts of Chouji's youngest to free the Hokage of his bright hair.

"I think he was lying." Sasuke said in a barely heard whisper.

"I am quite sure he was." Hinata nodded. The Hyuugas wasn't adept in body language for nothing. "But it'd be useless to pry, I'm afraid. It seems Naruto-san does not trust us with some secrets."

"He makes some seal."

"That's not an uncommon occurrence. Naruto-san is extremely good at fuuinjutsu, he creates something all the time."

Sasuke tried to swallow the information. In his opinion, fuuinjutsu was a brain-wracking knowledge, where your insides could be scattered a mile around because of one stupid brush stroke. While his natural genius provided the Uchiha with basic understanding and ability to combine most simple elements, he preferred to stay away from seals and seal users, explosion tags included. He hadn't thought Naruto took fuuinjutsu to that extent. Sure, the Hokage had the room which he tenderly called 'My Boom and Stuff Room", where every wall was stuffed with the fuuinjutsu scrolls. It was twice as big as his weapon room and ten times bigger than that cupboard with the bed that Naruto called a bedroom.

"But he hides his sketches, especially from Hatake."

"Have you seen any?" Hinata asked, and her brow lowered again, a tiny, barely perceptible movement.

Sasuke nodded.

"I am not as good as Naruto-san, but I have to understand the seal-making," she said. "I would appreciate it greatly if you recreate and show me a few of them."

A piece of fried potato flew past them and the pair turned to observe the Akimichi siblings wrestling one another among the piles of plates and Naruto, drenched in ketchup.

The Hyuuga clan head appeared in the Hokage mansion that same evening, slipping past the Hokage unnoticed. She looked at the crude drafts for a long time, turning her head that way and another, until admitting defeat.

"Naruto-san is a genius. I need to look at the full seal, although some parts I don't like either way. It needs to be quite big."

The place where Naruto could keep the seal was right there, in the mansion. The problem was, when a fuuinjutsu master wanted something hidden, he usually hid it well, and some time ago Naruto'd decided to keep his study shut. The issues began at the door.

"It's sealed, isn't it?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata hummed something and activated Byakugan, only to take a step back immediately, squeezing her eyes shut. An attempt to use Sharingan left the Uchiha just as stunned and disoriented from the assault of chakra design.

"No other way, then." The woman decided and placed her hand at the door knob. The wood squeaked pitifully and gave way under the assault.

The room was literally full with the scrolls, banned from Konoha's libraries and clan possessions, rough sketches everywhere.

And in the middle of the floor, proud and elaborate, the full seal was painted, every little element in blood.

Hinata gasped and stumbled back, her chakra flaring chaotically. For Sasuke, the seal was while quite intimidating (honestly, when had Naruto managed to become a fuuinjutsu jenius?), but nothing that scary. Apparently, the Hyuuga clan head thought the opposite. "Wh-what's that?" She stammered, taking deep breaths and scanning the seal again and again.

If Sasuke weren't so annoyed, he probably wouldn't have noticed a tiny flare of chakra before the blade went for the Hinata's throat.

"What?!" Naruto squeaked, still holding the kunai against Sasuke's protected forearm.

"I'll ask you that," The Uchiha hissed. "What's with the seal?"

The Hokage looked doomed and pleading at the same time. "Hinata, Sasuke, let it be."

The offer was met with silence and incredulous stares.

"Oow, that's something quite elaborate, isn't that?"

Naruto seemed to shrink in himself, looking at the newcomers. Kakashi was studying the seal with so much interest, it was quite clear the adviser was feeling sadistic, Sai contrived to snatch some scroll and was showing a great interest.

Neji and Shikamaru, wearing same I Am About To Throttle My Hokage faces, turned to Hinata.

"Please explain what's going on here."

"Hey, what're you guys doing here?!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have paled and cried about your study while rushing away? Anyway, spill, or I'll unleash Sakura on you."

Naruto made a sour face at his second adviser and yelped, looking at the business end of Sasuke's kunai. "What. Does. That. Do." The Uchiha seethed, backing the Hokage to the wall. "Spill, or I'll burn all the scrolls."

"No need for that, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi interjected, straightening. "It's a very powerful time-dimension seal. I'll admit I'm a little jealous, I'd never think something like that up."

Hinata shot up. "But Kakashi-san! Look here!" she pointed at the five triangles biting into the middle of the seal.

Kakashi smiled and looked at his former pupil.

"It basically states 'reject the body', and that northern part-"

"Enough, Hinata-chan," Naruto smiled hollowly, looking at the seal with strange mix of longing and disgust. "I'll activate it anyway, so let's not cause a scene."

The kunai dug into his throat and met an unresisting air. the Hiraishin seal was on the ceiling, right above the seal, so the mad Hokage managed to slam his open palm on the floor. The magnificent drawing lit up and became alive under everybody's shocked gazes.

The first strike was made by Neji, a simple, classic Juuken move, which got the Hyuuga prodigy stumbling into the growing seal. After that, the hell broke loose.

"It's chakra that makes it see a person." Hinata mumbled and followed her cousin's example. The middle of the drawing was a humming column of light, slowly eating its originator away.

Kakashi looked at the lateral parts with the mild interest. "Oh, I get it now," he shrugged and touched the thin line tenderly.

* * *

For Naruto, the creation of the seal became worth it the moment his chakra touched it - it really was something else, above human or even bijuu level of understanding. It was alive, roaring and coming to existence with the force of tsunami. The Kurama's chakra was wild around him and inside him, and when the roaring grew into a low whine, Naruto pushed.

For what seemed to become an eternity of disorientating immateriality, he pushed and was suddenly afraid to dissolve into live he felt around. When the struggle was too strong, and the temptation too inviting, Naruto got help.

Stop it. You're going to eliminate not only yourself.

So he stopped pushing.

And saw himself.

Oh, Kami, how tiny he was - what age had he gotten himself into?

"Hey," the Hokage said softly, coming closer to a little hunched up boy. Everything around was white and light, but the boy's shadow stood up blackly and promising, red grass under bare legs.

The boy's eyes was red and tortured, a gaze of a lonely child.

"Who are you?" he asked, paying no attention to the shining surroundings.

"I'm quite sure I am you," Naruto smiled and stepped closer, watching as the boy looked his tall figure up and down appraisingly.

"Then who am I?"

Naruto frowned and stepped even closer. "Let me tell you my story. How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"I am twenty four. Well, I need your help. You see, I became the Hokage-"

"You!? You mean- me?!"

Naruto laughed and clipped the boy on the back of the head softly. "Yes, I did it, I've been the Hokage for four years now, but before that, I was participating in a war. A very bad one. You with me?"

The boy's eyes were shining. Whether he believed that he suddenly met an older version of himself or he was ready to believe in any lie it was impossible to tell. Probably both. "Yes! I kicked lots asses, right? Did I? Did?"

"Jeesh, was I really that bad with the grammar?" Naruto scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Yes, pipsqueak, I did."

"Don't call me that! You are me!"

"That's why I have a right to call you anything I want. Now, where was I? Right. So, the war was over, but we didn't win. We only subdued our enemy."

Naruto looked at the confused face of the boy and rolled his eyes. Seriously, Kami, why all the brains he inherited had started to work after twenty?

"We tied him. And buried. But the thing is, that creature, he began to poison the earth. And now I don't know how to stop it. And nobody does."

The Hokage passed a tired right hand over his face and looked at the tiny dirty toes of his eleven-years-old self.

"So I decided - not without the help of my friends, of course - why not travel back in time and redo the fight? I pretty much know how to do that. But you see, I got too far, and I honestly didn't expect to see myself as an Academy brat… you attend the Academy, don't you?"

The boy scoffed and puffed his narrow chest. "Of course! How else am I supposed to become a Hokage?"

"I dunno, technically, I am still a genin."

"That's how awesome I am!" the boy laughed and Naruto joined, wholeheartedly agreeing.

"But I need your help. The seal which send me here destroyed my body, and the only one I can fit in is yours - my own."

The boy paled and looked at him with wide, terrified eyes.

"So- so I'll disappear?"

"No! No!" Naruto shouted hurriedly, knowing his biggest childhood fear. "Look, I know that it's hard, and it's really unfair, but I am you! So you won't ever disappear, I won't die until I pass a few new rules... oh, crap, the Hyuugas again- anyway, I've already lived through my childhood, so it won't disappear-"

"But I haven't!" the boy shouted, jumping up and crying. "All I know that everybody hates me!"

Naruto cringed. "I need to do that. That is my duty as a Hokage. People may still hate me and they may never acknowledge me again, but I'll keep them safe. I love them more that myself."

The small, round wet face looked up at him, eyes wide at the sight of that silent strength and resolve. "But they will?" the boy asked quietly.

"I'll do everything possible." Naruto said and clasped the small palm between his, feeling so proud and sad at the same time.

For a moment, he felt disoriented under the attack of flowing memories - long forgotten childhood wounds and tears came alive again, fears grew anew, until Naruto noticed the end of the ties of his hitai-ate and ordered himself to get up.

"I am the Rokudaime Hokage," he said in a soft voice, and his unyielding will straightened with him. The light around dimmed and the outlines of dark walls became visible.

"Oh, blast," Naruto mumbled, looking at the almost forgotten mindscape. "I forgot about that gloomy thing."

He tapped his lips for a few moments, then shrugged and decided to go to the left, big assured steps and proud posture, and it didn't take him long to reach his destination.

"Kurama," the Rokudaime greeted, nearing the great cage and reaching for the seal. He barely managed to dodge a monstrous claw, aimed for his chest.

"**Sorry, Naruto,**" the demon growled, bending his head and lying lower to be on one level with his host's shocked face. "**But you can't take off the seal right now. We reached too far ago, and your current body is just not accustomed to the my chakra in any amount. Furthermore, any feel of my power will send Konoha in frenzy, and don't you need the key to do that?**"

Naruto scoffed. "As if I can't recreate it. Anyway, you are right, but was it really necessary to scare me like that? I thought for a moment that it was old version of you."

"**You understand everything better through actions.**"

The young man smiled sheepishly. "But I'm sorry you'll have to sit in this thing."

Kurama chuckled.

"I understand that such seal is able to hold almost any amount of power within, but why the gloomy catacombs?" the Hokage frowned.

"**It's just the reaction of your mind to the seal and the foreign source of power. But mostly the seal. Your subconscious perceives it as a threat and the inability to get rid of it causes some distress, which in turn manifests into these surroundings. And close your mouth, Naruto, I've lived enough to know how human mind works.**"

"So cool!" Naruto shouted. "But still I wish I could do something."

"**Don't fret, child. Look, the walls are lighter and- there's grass near my cage?**"

"Great! I'll grow a forest here!" The Hokage shouted again and jumped in joy. "And then free you!"

He fearlessly walked to the cage and past huge bars. "Thanks for help, Kurama. I'll do my best."

"**I know, child,**" the demon grumbled low, nudging his host with a tail. **"Good luck. And look - we have a guest.**"

"Wha-" Naruto cried out, pushed out of the cage by another giant tail, stumbled, ran into something and raised his head.

Only to look straight into the redredredred wheel of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

* * *

Ooow, the cliffhanger, I know. Well, in a week we'll know more about their visitor, word of a writer!

P.S. In a desperate need of beta.


	2. Blank list, if only for a few blots

AN" Sorry for the delay, my exams were killing me, and that chapter was extremely tiring, I had to re-write it five times.

I suddenly recall a fanfic where a village hidden in strippers starred. I'd name Konoha village hidden in perverts, hentaigakure, or, even better, Ichaichagakure. At least that'd be true.

Sasuke is really very easy to handle once you realize he is just one huge drama queen. Blame his humanity on the absence of seal.

Thank you for reviews~!

* * *

For Sasuke awakening was not a pleasant surprise. Definitely. Mainly because he wasn't used to feel like a hangover amoeba which was recently experimented upon by Kabuto. No, he liked to keep his head clear and body clean of any kinds of poisons. Had Naruto managed to knock him off and then filled his unconscious body with some horrible alcohol? Or maybe it was ramen? Sasuke was dead sure the result would be the same.

With a rasped, forced groan he opened his eyes and frowned at the unknown ceiling. His loyal, honed body refused to move with habitual speed and grace and Sasuke stumbled from his futon, landing on all fours. He dearly hoped to the point of praying that Naruto wouldn't choose that exact moment to boom into his room.

Which wasn't his room at all. Sasuke straightened and looked at the too high ceiling and too wide doors. His brain was slowly awakening and memories came in ruthless, slamming waves, blinding him to the world.

The seal.

Naruto - in a column of light, now wasn't that metaphorical?

The Hyuuga following him.

And then Sasuke himself jumped, because that situation clearly was under the mark of "life-threatening", he'd made an oath and who'd let Neji beat him on being loyal?

The Uchiha heaved a sigh and looked around. He remembered this place now - it was his old room, before his treason, but after the massacre.

Kakashi had said it'd been a time-dimension seal. The dimension travel had taken place, alright. But it wouldn't be terribly surprising if Naruto had managed to pull off an actual time travel.

Sasuke took a look at his legs.

And cursed for the first time in five years.

Last time (this morning or who-knows-how-many-years-in-the-future) his feet had been bigger. And better developed. And how- seriously? Flat feet? How the hell had he became a shinobi with flat feet? Granted, it wasn't a terrible, civilian case, but it was a bleeding wound to his pride.

Sasuke turned his head left and right, taking in the surroundings. The same small futon he remembered, a minimum amount of belongings, a small pile of scrolls in the corner, two sheets of paper near his bed. He padded to the scrolls and looked them over with distaste. The contents were so simple Sasuke couldn't even comprehend them. The papers were Academy tests with proud As and questions of doubtful usability. Curling his upper lip in a disapproving sneer, Sasuke checked his bedside for the hitai-ate and the team photo, just in case, and found nothing.

Sighing like an old man, he left the room. The air in the silent and empty compound was weirdly fresh and light, causing strange desire to take one lungful of air after another. And smile. And maybe even relax a little. But no, Sasuke suddenly realized, it wasn't the air, it was the seal, or the lack of it. The fusion had been so gradual he hadn't been able to pinpoint the difference until the thing was removed. Or he was removed from it - in that case Sasuke wasn't very picky.

He was stuck with the sudden thought that he didn't know what to do. That was also very déjà vu, and the Uchiha lazily recalled that same state of indecisiveness around that age - what to in Academy, how to fly higher, how to secure himself as a Konoha nin, how to get stronger, and more stronger, and again, stronger.

Sasuke got disaccustomed to the feeling so long ago. He always knew what to do in Orochimaru's lair, he made his decisions in split seconds, leaving the crazy nin, joining Akatsuki, leaving them, joining Konoha.

And keeping the Rokudaime alive - that had been one gigantic mess of being ready, quick decisions, being ready, knowing what to do and being ready. Being indecisive was fatal.

Sasuke frowned. There was no had beens, because he jumped in an unknown seal (and he was mature enough by the age of twenty four to acknowledge his fear of the fuuinjutsu) and followed the mad imbecile not to ponder on had beens and used tos.

Whirling on his bare heels, Sasuke strolled out of the compound and in the changed, old Konoha. He was itching to just jump on the nearest roof and-

And go where? The Hokage Tower was out of the question, and Sasuke had no idea where Naruto lived during Academy years. They hadn't been friends then and Team 7 hadn't been functioning well enough to allow visiting each other. He had no Sharingan, his chakra sensing abilities sucked balls and he saw a nin leaping from the nearest lamppost. That only encouraged Sasuke's brooding, because he suddenly realized that at the tender age of… whatever he wasn't even considered adult by the shinobi laws, damn it, and wasn't supposed to wander at the streets of Konoha in ungodly hours.

But screw them, he was a fucking weakling and in a mess, all thanks to Naruto, and damn it all to the Juubi's tails if he wasn't going to shake the former-future-Hokage till he was even stupider to make his point clear.

No. More. Fucking. Seals.

Naruto lived somewhere in the cheapest district of Konoha, which narrowed Sasuke's quest. What narrowed it even more were the graffitis and writings like "Beware of monsters!", "The monster lives two blocks from here! Change the course!" and "It was here yesterday, be careful." The It was underlined three times.

Had Konoha been like that? Sasuke didn't remember the writings, which riled him up even further to the point of being livid at the Sandaime for being so senile as to actually enlighten the civilians of the Jinchuuriki's identity, at the Yondaime for being a brainless fool and thinking that suddenly a mass of terrified, uneducated and dim-witted people would be able to tell the prisoner from the vessel, at the Sandaime again for allowing these imbeciles to do as they saw fit; he was the leader of the fucking _military village_, what had he been thinking? Then there was the anger at the so-called educated and experienced Konoha shinobi, who were just as prejudiced and mistrusting as any damned civilian, at the Sandaime for not even finding the village's greatest strength a caretaker, at his former classmates who were so much grown ups that they followed their parents' opinions, at himself, for being unable to notice these obvious signs even once and add two and two together, all these 'Bakemono' and 'Stay away from him', and at the Naruto for being always. Damn. Cheerful.

By the time Sasuke got to a shaggy building with half the windows broken, he had reached the long forgotten point of unbelievable, heart-choking rage which sometime long ago had caused him to jump at Danzou without any strategy. Kami what a fool he had been.

He looked up at the building again and frowned at another wave at doubts.

What if Naruto landed in another point in time - earlier or later? What if he was lost in whatever time mess he created?

Sasuke bared his upper teeth when his rage was amplified by the wave of fear.

It didn't matter. He made a promise already, he'd been making a silent one every day, by putting on his gear and coming up behind his Hokage, ready for anything.

That situation could be unique and unexpected, but it was included in the anything, and if Uzumaki Naruto was a helpless, brainless idiot who knew nothing about being the Hokage (only wanting it and declaring his desire from every fucking height) and going through the war - that was alright, Sasuke possessed the knowledge enough for three.

He reached up the top floor, yanked the doorknob - unlocked, of course, you fucking dimwit, it would be unlocked - and entered the dark apartment.

Whatever person Naruto was at the moment was difficult to tell, because he was lying on the floor, his head near the pile of empty instant ramen cups, limbs sprawled and breathing silent.

Fear finally consumed rage.

Sasuke bolted to the tiny body - Kami, had Naruto _really_ been this small? - turned it face uppermost and tried to find the pulse.

His cool, perfectly working brain sped up, throwing possibilities away - Naruto wasn't an Academy idiot, he wasn't a civilian idiot or the-Hokage-travelled-back-in-time imbecile, because Naruto was dead.

That was outside the anything - that wasn't what Sasuke was prepared for. It was outside the anything and, really, _the_ everything. Four hundred and forty days of oath left him with the world constructed around new axis, not around taking revenge upon Itachi, or avenging Itachi, or nursing Itachi's memory and Itachi's ideals and not even around Konoha - the damned, stupid village for which Itachi sacrificed _everything_. The one who held Konoha, defined it and everybody living in the village, which included Sasuke, was Konoha's Hokage. It was just Sasuke's luck that he happened to be as influenced by the Sixth as everybody else.

Naruto became Konoha, Konoha leaned into him, laid itself down at his feet and refused to let go.

Crouched in the tiny space which was Naruto's kitchen, knuckles white and shaking, Sasuke leaned into the stupid orange spiral, and refused to let the thought in.

So, his worldview had changed - big deal, he was ready to admit he did that a lot. And, yes, maybe Naruto had become a bigger part in his life than before… some point in time. Maybe he had become accustomed to seeing him, ahead and a little bit to the left. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

Naruto had no pulse - and no maybes. No heartbeat - no maybes.

It was outside the anything.

And that was unacceptable.

Unacceptable and unfair, just as his whole fucking life had been, one twisted joke, and whoever had the nerve to laugh at him was going to pay, to pay dearly. Sasuke thought of Naruto, always laughing him in the face, and shook the body, causing the head to roll slightly from side to side, mouth slightly open. He wasn't even laughing, damned imbecile, irresponsible rotter.

Then he thought of Madara - and choked on his breath, because Madara would, oh, he certainly would laugh at him, at them, with pleasure. Oh, he was so going to pay. It was his fault, the brain clicked helpfully, glad to switch from _still no pulse, point of no return when the heartbeat is out for_- to something helpful. Naruto was itchy because of the statue. Statue was containing the Juubi - and whose fault it had been? Sasuke shut out the memory of him standing beside Naruto in the crater.

Every fucking freak in the Akatsuki was going to pay, especially the immortal one, if he's so tough. He was going to laugh at Madara, he wouldn't be so inconsiderate as to leave his ancestor without returning the favour.

The sleeve was tearing under Sasuke's convulsing palm, and he looked at the fabric with cool, detached interest.

Unfair. Unfair and unacceptable - the dead shouldn't rest with their eyes open. He reached to close the eyelids and.

There were walls closing off around him. Dimly lit, reddish catacombs went forward, corridors to his left and right.

Sasuke looked down at the water splashing at his bare feet and smiled at the well formed sinews from each finger to the strong ankle - he got his good legs back, the better.

The water was thick with chakra.

Kyuubi's chakra.

Sasuke blinked once, twice, then his brain kicked in. The Kyuubi was in the anything - he was bound to Naruto, at least to the Academy version, and the Bijuu couldn't be confined with the Jinchuuriki's death.

That was acceptable, that was something he was prepared for - interrogation. Sasuke raced down the corridor, upper lip in a sneer. It didn't matter to him who was his opponent. The situation needed to get from the outside of the anything back to normal, and he wasn't picky of the ways.

The great fox growled behind the giant bars, the twitching tails casting off dancing shadows on the walls. The seal stood proudly, like the first time Sasuke saw it.

And the stupid imbecile was actually inside the cage. Figures. Trust Uzumaki Naruto to turn everything upside down the very moment you think the world is going to be okay.

The thing was - Naruto looked as he should have. All six feet of Rokudaime Hokage as people had got used to see him.

Why bother with Madara? Naruto was a perfect target to practice some torturing.

The fox looked at the uninvited guest and shoved it's host out of the cage. Sasuke snatched the collar of Naruto's shirt and met his stare straight on.

The fool was going to get it for every moment Sasuke had spent since waking up.

However, his revenge plans was blown away when one of the bravest and strongest shinobi alive shrieked and scrambled away, stumbling in the splashing water. As usual with Naruto - as soon as you got a nice revenge plan trust him to act-

"Madara!" Naruto shrieked, turning to the fox and pointing at the dumbfounded Sasuke.

"**No. That's your guarddog**," the Bijuu drawled, "**look closer, although I admit, the resemblance is astounding.**"

"Huh?" the Hokage managed, when he was yanked again.

"I hate such jokes, you damned brainless joke of a Kage." Sasuke growled, shaking his charge. "I am going to make you pay for every second I-" he choked on words and his own emotions. "You- you damned imbecile! Have you any idea- I'm just going to- I hate you." He finally stated, choosing safety. Sasuke definitely was hating him at the moment, if only for all the words busting out every second. "Don't call me that name." There. That should make them to the safe water.

"Sasuke, " Naruto frowned, cocking his head, "what else did you expect, when I travel thirteen years ago and see Mangekyo?"

Sasuke blinked and recoiled. The fox cackled from behind the bars. "**I bet he didn't even know he switched these eyes on.**"

The intensity of the famous Uchiha glare was lost on the creature whose age beat Sasuke's clan history.

"**But anyway, you two should go away for now, I hear a commotion.**"

The water rose, swirling around them, and Sasuke found himself staring into Kakashi's lone Sharingan.

Naruto coughed and wheezed at the background. "St- stop it, stop it now!" He managed, Hokage's intonations creepy in the boy's voice. "Everybody with special eyes - turn them off."

Finally, Sasuke's head was freed from the ruthless headlock Kakashi had managed to pull.

Figures - there were them, both Hyuugas and Shikamaru, ridiculously young and underdeveloped. Sasuke felt slightly better about his flat feet, observing Nara's weak posture and Hinata's club-foot as she passed the coughing Naruto to his tiny kitchen. There was clinking and then water running and when the clan head - or was she at the moment only the heiress? returned, she brought a glass of water.

Naruto scrunched his nose at the dirty glass and muddy water, but drank nonetheless. "Thank you," he croaked and sighed, "I guess that answers who decided to jump besides the shovel face."

Sasuke kicked him, just on principle, but nobody commented on the offending act. Now, as the adrenalin started to wear off the small body he occupied felt extremely off. The kick that was intended to throw Naruto through the flimsy wall was weak and barely reached it's target. What was worse, Naruto barely registered it, not even having time to block or duck. Sasuke glared at the too short limb and frowned.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Hokage-sama." Shikamaru snorted and lied down on the floor. "You can start right now."

Naruto huffed incredulously. "I did what I have to - and I had no intentions to drag you into it. Why the hell did you jump? What were you thinking?"

Kakashi sounded as irritated as his former pupil did. "It's called loyalty, Naruto, and worry. You were plotting something for months - and don't think we haven't noticed, it's a little bit offending."

Sasuke noticed with a small pang of jealousy that the jounin's posture was pretty much the same - he clearly had no trouble adjusting to a new body.

"Shit- what? You _knew_?"

Neji scoffed. "We know you for more than a decade - you can't pull something like that without us noticing. By the way, Sai also jumped."

This time Naruto shrieked his What and for all it seemed was ready to go into hysteria, but Hinata intervened. "We really have no time to talk about it. Sai-san has always been able to look after himself - in every age. We can't reach him right now, so better focus on the vital matters. Yes, we jumped after you, Naruto-san, and you shouldn't really ask us for reasons - they are obvious enough. I suppose I can safely say we dearly wish to hear your intentions and plan of actions."

"Hinata is a diplomat. I think I'll just burn all your ramen stocks if you don't spill right now." Shikamaru grumbled.

Naruto growled and jumped to his feet. "Oh, shut it. What do you expect to hear? It's that frigging thing with Shinju - it destroys everything. Both air and land are polluted beyond purifying and there's no seal to hold it or cancel it- well, I _know_ a couple, but they aren't able to hold for long. The statue wasn't completed, and- aah! I had no choice! Really, it's been hurting everything - including Shinju, and it's been driven mad, so it's kinda… told me… about this seal. And I really didn't think I end up this far - I thought maybe about a couple of months before the final clash with the bastard, so I had some time to train. And pretend that I suddenly can learn fuuinjutsu while sleeping. But it really was like pushing in a blindfold, so I pushed and pushed, and thanks Kurama he stopped me in time so I ended up here, while I'm _eleven_. I've got no plan for this, I'm not even a ninja yet! Jiji keeps an eye on me like twenty-four-seven, ANBU everywhere and council lurking from behind every bush! That's a drag!" He finished in a mumble.

"I'm not sure I wanted a mental image of Konoha's current elders crouching behind a bush." Kakashi commented with a pensive expression. Naruto responded with a strangled gurgle of a laugh.

Shikamaru shot up, frowning. "ANBU? You were watched by ANBU?"

"Now _that's_ offending," Kakashi drawled, "while Sasuke was too busy staring at that lovely house, I was abusing my status as an ex-Captain and managed to convince the one following Naruto to trust me with their charge. Of course, Sasuke's supervisor has to suffer me being exceptionally good at genjutsu."

Sasuke choked on breath and received a funny look from Naruto. "Keep your eyes from bulging out, please, it's a disgusting image. Naturally, a lone Uchiha survivor would be followed. You are now a kid, defenceless and quite stupid." Naruto smirked and dodged another kick, stumbling in the process. "Although that makes us face one huge problem - we can't meet together aside from that one time. And certainly you can't visit me here. At least until we're all genins. Oh, Kami, why this far? What have I done in my previous lives? I forgot I was this tiny, I had no money at eleven, no Rasengan, no fuuinjutsu!"

Sasuke leaned on the dirty wall and closed his eyes. Naruto was whining which meant that he was going to make his decision soon.

Hinata's voice sounded hesitant. "How do you know your age? You just came to…"

"I met myself earlier. In my mental… scape… or something."

Silence met the statement.

"Well, it's probably because of the Kurama, and me leading the seal… forget it, forget it, it was strange." His voice sounded slightly pained but final. Everybody preferred to leave it at that.

"This… is going to be a problem." Shikamaru sighed. "As I see, you are not going to enlighten anybody else on our origins?"

"What am I, mad?" Naruto asked incredulously. "I'll be in I&T faster than with Hiraishin. No, I'm not gonna meet Ibiki that way so soon, thanks. Oh," he paused suddenly, "what are you guys going to do? Please, just don't go telling everybody-"

"I think there's a little misunderstanding somewhere." Kakashi interrupted. Sasuke opened one eye. "We followed you… well, to be honest, since the start of the war, and until that point. What makes you think we would suddenly stop? Oh, maybe someone disagrees?" he asked with fake sweetness.

Shikamaru snorted.

"But- but- well, guys, we're in a different time, and I'm eleven now, and the Third is alive."

This time Neji scoffed. "With all respect, Sandaime-sama wasn't the best of rulers, and his decisions backfired badly for Konoha. I… I don't trust him now. And as your adviser said, we follow you."

"You need to stop being so insecure among us, Naruto-san," Hinata chimed in, "for us you're our Hokage, and unless you order otherwise, we'll act as your shinobi." She smiled serenely. "Besides, you don't look like an eleven-years-old, more like our Hokage who decided to henge himself into his Academy days."

Naruto beamed and smiled with gratitude, ducking his head shily. He really was stupid sometimes.

"But it leads us to another big problem," Kakashi interrupted, his frown visible even with the mask, "no one here looks like eleven- or twelve, in Neji's case - years old. The gestures, the language, it's all wrong. Any decent ninja will detect you, not taking in consideration your families."

Shikamaru paled. "That's one big drag… I don't even remember how I behaved back then."

"Ow, you don't need to worry, Shikamaru-kun," Kakashi sang, clearly enjoying himself, "we're all here to help each other. I remember perfectly how you behaved, and won't it be fun to look at all of you as sweet little kids again?"

"Oh, shut up," Naruto glowered along with the boys, "isn't it sweet that you're young again?" He ignored his mentor's dramatic gasp and turned to the second adviser. "But he's right, I remember that you were even more of a lazy ass than now. Neji was a brooding bastard, and, well…"

"Please, don't strain yourself," Hinata interrupted with a hint of a smile, "I remember how I was pretty well. It's not easy to forget things like that in the Hyuuga clan."

Naruto frowned but said nothing on the matter, instead he clutched his chin tightly and began mumbling. "What really worries me is… that we can't really use any of our jutsu, we can't even _know_ them yet. No tree- or water-walking, no elemental jutsu, basically, no jutsu at all!" He moved to clutch at his head. "We need to train, but how? Where? Academy sucks at this, training grounds are forbidden, and on top of that, we're constantly watched!"

"You can train secretly, it's not really that hard. A couple of well-placed scrolls there, a technique seen here, and you have an example to blame. And you can train water-walking in your own bathroom. You just can't start gruelling training all at the same time. It'll arise suspicions, and your motivation will be questionable at least." Kakashi observed. "Moreover, you still have underdeveloped body and brain, they won't be able to keep up with the pace your mind sees as normal. I saw Sasuke's kick - it was miscalculated and pretty weak, and before that, none of you had noticed ANBU, although they did not mask themselves that well, that was the message…" He trailed off for a moment. "What I want to say is - you can't just rush ahead, drawing seals during classes, or go all out during training - your brain needs to catch up to your new memories, you need to adjust to a smaller and weaker version of your own body and keep the training not only successful, but harmless. And have a lot of sleep, we don't want to have five of you delivered in Konoha's hospital with the mental breakdown only for Inoichi to blow our cover, do we? Ow, how lucky I am, I can train and do whatever I want without any need to explain my reasons." He giggled. Being in the role of himself only less responsible came easy to him.

Naruto choked. "I don't think motivation will be any problem - both Neji and Sasuke was training-obsessed freaks since forever, Shikamaru can just calmly do nothing, well, Hinata, I think-"

She interrupted again. "There are plenty of reasons to snap in the Hyuuga household."

"Oh, isn't it great… maybe? As for me… haven't I sneaked on ANBU training grounds enough? Maybe this time I will actually repeat their moves, not what taught…" he trailed off, frowning. "Academy sucks. Don't wanna go there. But hey! This time we can actually help our teams get stronger! And be, like, real teams faster." He cast a sideways look at Sasuke.

"I'm not going to do nothing, thank you very much." Shikamaru grumbled. "I'm going to think and observe, I don't believe for a second you won't slip at any other moment."

"Watch for yourself, lazy ass!" Naruto laughed. "Anyway, great that we cleared that, now go to your own beds, we'll meet in the Academy soon, and until graduation… let's try to keep communication to minimum."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi, when the jounin began to yank him up. "What are you doing?"

"Aw, come on, you barely sit after using Mangekyo, how are you going to reach the compound?"

"I'm not going anywhere." he hissed, yanking his arm back and staggering. Everybody stopped and turned to him, including Naruto, who was waist deep in his dresser. "What do you mean?" He asked, snatching an old sheet from his bed.

"I'm not going anywhere." Sasuke repeated. "Or you're going with me."

Someone - most likely Shikamaru - sighed.

"Why the hell would you stay here, you moron? Why the hell would I go anywhere?"

Sasuke bristled and stalked to Naruto, eyes narrowed. "Are you even for real? You are still the Hokage, I don't care about this fool Sarutobi, you-" he stopped and bit his own tongue. "You are an idiot."

"Sasuke is trying to tell, in his own unique way, that he still intends to follow you, because you're still the Hokage, and he's still your guard." Kakashi smirked. Awful. His smirks were actually palpable in the air.

"WHAT?! Are you mad? Do you think yourself above everything we discussed here? We're on a mission, Sasuke, and we can't blow it up, under no circumstances! We're undercover, starting an hour ago! And there's absolutely no way in the current situation an Uchiha heir can associate with the village's Jinchuuriki! No! Nope! We'll be drugged to Morino in the first day! What were you gonna do, _flank_ me?"

"I didn't care what people thought then, don't see any reason why should I start now." Sasuke hissed, the memory of Naruto's small and cold body still alive. He clutched the collar of a stupid t-shirt again, but was unable to lift the tiny body even a little.

"Ugh! You're unbearable! If I'm your Hokage, then that's an order - take your mission and protect me by _staying the hell away_ from me, because you can't do anything in that state. And I absolutely forbid you to use Sharingan until we have a legitimate reason for it to exist at all. Mangekyo is out of the question. Kakashi, you can knock him out, but get him to the compound."

Sasuke jumped away and sneered, bursting out of the dirty apartment. His chest burnt, and burning half the village along felt like a good idea, only he _couldn't_. Because his Katon was too weak at the moment, and Mangekyo was out of the question. Out of the question! What else was he supposed to use? He really wanted to activate his eyes right there and parade them in front of Konoha, just in spite, but he couldn't! He couldn't and he didn't even understand why - how was he supposed to know about the ANBU, ordered to look after him? Or detect enemies? Damned fool, he just didn't know what it was - to have such eyes and then suddenly be forbidden to use them.

Sasuke snarled at his own legs, unable to get him to his compound faster, and then spun around. "What do you want? I'm well able to look after myself."

Kakashi seemed unperturbed as usual. Freak. "Just checking. It looks like you're about to have a heart attack." The jounin easily kept up with his former pupil, looking left and right with fake interest. Or maybe he was feeling nostalgic - Sasuke didn't care.

"You know," he called, just before the Uchiha entered his ground and activated the guarding seal. "Right now I think we started to trust you. Good luck."

"Who cares." Sasuke snarled at the empty place and almost raced to his room. He had a lot of things in mind - to burn the house, to kill the Konoha council, to run away and join Akatsuki, to go and spill everything to the senile Sandaime - only he couldn't. He had a mission and his orders, and he almost physically couldn't disobey, he paled in horror as the realization surfaced through his denial. He couldn't disobey and he felt like someone used and betrayed - twice today. He was stuck in this body and his reason for living and getting stronger was just… snatched away. Staying the hell away - how was he supposed to…

The guarding seal boomed slightly, but before Sasuke could find an appropriate weapon, the door opened, and a familiar face peeked in. "Found ya!"

"What do you want?" Sasuke snarled, backing away from Naruto's serious eyes.

"To apologise." The Hokage shrugged thus effectively rendering the Uchiha speechless. "It came out harsh."

"Why are you here? Aren't you followed?"

"Puh-lease!" Naruto rolled his eyes. "I've been sneaking off since I was six. Can I sit?"

"You can do whatever you want." Sasuke snapped and turned away to dig deeper into the shelves.

"Really, Sasuke, I'm sorry I screamed and it was really harsh, but it's a little bit too dramatic, dontcha think?"

His patience gave off with a melodic thump of blood in his ears. Sasuke took Naruto's collar third time that crazy night and growled at his own inability to even _think_ about choking the bastard. "You don't understand, you dimwit-"

"But I think I do." Naruto interrupted, looking terrifyingly serious."I was overwhelmed and didn't think about your Sharingan until later, but then I was just stupefied - why did you came here with the Mangekyo no less, I'm not even able to free Kurama without burning my body, and you are already with it. And I know how an Uchiha can obtain it."

"Shut up." Sasuke choked out. He really didn't need any more of his denial torn away from here that night. He was mature like that to admit it.

"And unless you had the time to befriend someone or find Itachi and kill him, the reason was m-"

"I said shut up! I didn't- I didn't kill you, understand?"

"But you thought you did." Naruto stated calmly and cocked his head when his collar was released with a choked snort.

"I don't know what train of thought led you to that conclusion, and really, I don't want to, but you tend to… overdo yourself when you're in charge of something. And you think you are in charge of me."

Sasuke tensed and yanked the cabinet so hard it fell out, throwing the silverware all over his bare feet.

"I think we're more, like, in charge of each other. And… you really gonna make me say this, aren'tcha?"

He heard the footsteps and attempted to shake off the small palm on his shoulder, but Naruto held tight.

"I rely on you, Sasuke, and I trust you. I… I'm grateful that you came into Konoha back then and I'm really relieved you're here now. I'm just worried. About Madara, and Danzou, and even the Third." Naruto let go and Sasuke turned to see him rubbing his face tiredly. "We have no time to plan, we can rely only on sheer luck and we have little to no freedom to act." He came back to the shaky stool and hunched on it, a small body of a big person.

"You have always had enough dumb luck for three villages."

"I guess that's true." Naruto chuckled without much energy. "But I just keep thinking - there's Madara, but there's also Danzou, and the Elders, and I really- I also don't like some of the things Jiji did, but I keep on thinking that when Obaa-chan returns - I _need_ to do that, she'll be a better 'Kage, but that means letting Jiji die-"

"You're just tired." Sasuke interrupted, looking at the hunched shoulders, and the burn was in the chest again. "You can't really avert his death, Orochimaru was strong, and you know this. The Fifth was a better Hokage, and you know that, too. Only I'm not going to listen to her, either."

Naruto lifted his head and smiled faintly, then paled. "Oh, Orochimaru-!"

"Shut it already." Sasuke winced. The time when he could knock out a grown-up man seemed already so long ago, and now he was afraid to harm spinal nerves, so he did the most sensible thing - he dragged mumbling Naruto to the small futon and dropped him there with the last remains of adrenalin in his system. Or maybe it was the damned loyalty Kakashi had bragged about - but really, Sasuke liked his denial just fine. So adrenalin be it.

Naruto conked out next to Academy sheets with As, mumbling about keeping everybody safe - big surprise, and the owner of the bed with the heavy sigh and a denied bit of excitement in the chest sat down at his bedside and began formulating a plan for the current mission.

Obviously, he wasn't assigned any missions beside the main one, and the disastrous ones before his treason didn't count. Sasuke observed hundreds of missions given to shinobi of all ranks and level of power, starting from newly announced so-called ninja and kunoichi, and ending with Naruto's trusted ANBU Captains, but he rarely participated in any discussion of how to carry out one. His current body was ridiculously tiny and weak, his field of vision so small, hearing bad. Well, at least Naruto was right with the part where he could train all he wanted without arising suspicions. He still needed to kill one man. Well, a plentiful of men, actually. Sasuke frowned - he might have been assigned a mission, but nobody relieved him of the previous one. Naruto might think whatever he wanted, but ANBU did a lousy job, if one eleven-years-old could sneak off their care. Besides, even before his name became famous, Uzumaki Naruto had been a target for too many eyes.

He'd had already checked the calendar - they had eight months until graduation, enough for him to master a few Katon jutsus and maybe raid the compound in search of chakra paper. Although he didn't have a lot of hope on that one - most of equipment was hidden and without fully realized Sharingan the hiding places wouldn't even be seen.

Not using Sharingan was really a stupid order. Sasuke shot a glare at a softly snoring Naruto. That was utterly ridiculous - flat-footed, club-footed, stooping, snoring shinobi. And the elite of Konoha nonetheless.

It was eerily silent as the first rays of sun began showing through the paper wall, Sasuke strained his hearing, but his body was really tired and not used to obey the mind's commands without complain. He knew his limits and had been able to bear 24 hours without sleep just fine, now, it seemed, he was exhausted without seven hours a night.

Naruto's breath hitched and became a quiet rustling. Apparently, his habit of waking up with the sun wasn't lost to the nosy body.

"You snore." Sasuke commented without turning his head. "Your breath is too loud and even with that hearing I can hear your heartbeat."

"I know." Naruto groggily said and slowly sat up, bending his head to reach the kinks in the back of his neck. "I feel like I'm stuck in a civilian's body."

Sasuke did an unidentified sound of agreement. He still wasn't able to get over his flat feet.

"It's really funny." Naruto went on in the same lazy voice. Evidently, his body and brain, although did obey the mind, had no intentions of doing anything more. "'Cuz we were stronger than most civilians at ten, then a Hokage is a real monster-"

"Commoners rarely use common sense." Sasuke retorted and scrunched his nose slightly at the accidental pun. "Your power is monstrous compared to most other 'Kages, but don't let it get to your head." He added hastily, knowing that it was too late already.

"I won't." Naruto nodded solemnly and yawned. "Whatcha doin'?"

Sasuke preferred to leave that without answer and silently shoved Hokage from his bed. His mind was shutting off, and quickly. "It's more that enough that I had to wait until you decide to wake up, and now it's ridiculous for an Uchiha heir to associate with the village's what's-your-name."

Naruto blinked but kept his smile well confined, the only sign a slight crease in the corners of the eyes. "Until graduation then, Sasuke-hime."

Sasuke laid down and turned away, sending a wordless message of 'piss off'. He didn't smile, but the surprise at his own unexpected joy didn't let him sleep for another ten seconds.

Naruto left with only three footsteps audible.

In spite of being deadly tired, Sasuke's own habits didn't let him more than three hours of sleep. He rubbed at his aching eyes and blamed Naruto. Obviously, without him and his rise-and-shine-before-any-bird attitude, Sasuke himself wouldn't have been used to waking up that early.

It's amazing how much you see of yourself when surrounded by the things from your childhood, your past, and, even more, your childhood body.

Sasuke was groggy, irritable, and his limbs didn't want to listen to his brain for good four minutes. He tried meditation, but the body immediately began itching in seven places, mouth gone dry and he got an eye-tick.

Tired, exhausted and angry at his own body he stood before the calendar and tried to comprehend what he was missing. Briefly he enjoyed the idea of making some kind of schedule of his training, but it was tossed out the next moment. First, he had never been that kind of person, second, anything solid could be used as an evidence and compromise them, and Sasuke was a perfectionist, and mainly, he was too proud to entertain the thought that his brain needed help of some sheet of paper.

Oh, he suddenly realized, Thursday, that meant the Academy was waiting for him.

Sasuke couldn't help it - he was in a child's body, he had actually _made a joke_, he really admitted to himself that he was loyal and… that was quite enough - Sasuke dropped his head and groaned.

Naruto had big plans for educational system. While teaching some 'real ninja' stuff in the Academy was risky at best, he decided to expand the program by adding some civilian subjects for future reconnaissance and undercover missions and changed the age of graduation to thirteen, hoping that his successor would further move it to fifteen. He didn't have illusions about shinobi veterans kicking and screaming about the kids being soft.

If he'd ever live to the moment, Sasuke would enjoy looking at the kids who graduated at the age he killed his so-called mentor and was considered chuunin-level.

But that was the old Academy - boring, boring, and-

"SASUKE-KUN!"

-full of _them_.

Sasuke shuddered and attempted to get to the classroom as fast as possible. How could he forget about that terrible horde of monsters? He missed Karin, at least she was a good tracker and a decent fighter.

Someone attached herself to his right arm. "Sasuke-kuun, you look tired. Do you want to rest? You can use my lap as a pillow."

He shuddered. Whoever thought it was a good idea to teach young girls the elementary seduction hadn't been under their so-attempted charms. Or he had, Sasuke thought with dread, and was determined not to wallow in that misery alone. It was truly terrible - in the underdeveloped bodies with clumsy gestures and baby fat even the best seduction techniques would lose their charm. And the idea of getting closer to an actual eleven-years-old girl filled him with disgust and terror.

Sasuke snatched his hand back and entered the classroom, almost frantically looking for a girls-free seat.

"Sasuke-kun!" they sang and he felt dread.

Both Ino and Sakura sat near his usual seat and watched him like their prey. At twenty-four they were a shrewd, battle-tried Clan Head and a formidable medic, nothing like these two weak and shallow children.

"Move." He intoned, glowering at them. Fortunately, the power of Uchiha stare hadn't been lost in the time travel, so the girls hurried away, looking at him with wide, dumbfounded eyes.

A funny thought occurred to him - it was an actual second chance, and he really had a few people to keep him in line.

Shikamaru's head rested on his folded hands, but for all intents and purposes, sleeping people did not peek from behind their fingers. Hinata's face was an image of tranquility, head bent low enough to allow her the view of the classroom through the bangs.

At last, Naruto did his dramatic entrance. He had been loud and obnoxious in his true Academy days, as Sasuke recalled, so this time he could actually pick up the difference. It was Rokudaime Hokage, who burst into the classroom, whooping and cackling madly, everything was there - the calculating eyes, carefully adjusted body position and an actual readiness for a danger. Shikamaru sighed and shook his head slightly, Naruto stuck out his tongue and shrugged, then swaggered to the back row, an image of carelessness and ignorance, except for a general air alertness around him.

But nobody noticed. The girls shrieked and began crying obstinacies, somebody tried to throw at Naruto a spitball or two - Sasuke repressed mounting killer intent and felt the other two tensing - Kiba hooted and tried to catch Naruto in a headlock - nobody caught the boy's cool, calculating eyes or the way he sized advancing Kiba up and down, finding countless weak points in an instantaneous glance. They were children, weak and blind, and next to them, always kind-hearted, sympathetic Naruto looked ruthless and menacing.

It was symbolic, in a wicked, shinobi style - how he sat behind everybody, head lolled back in a feigned sleep, their greatest champion and protector.

What was even more stupid and confusing was how little teachers noticed. Sure, the guy Naruto was all fawning in his teens, Iruka, frowned a couple of times, but in general, nobody commented on the strangeness of four students at once.

The unwillingness to treat Naruto like a normal, human being helped greatly. Having plenty of experience watching people and determining their mind works cleared enough - teachers were too aggravated at Naruto for just existing to pay much attention to anybody else. In some kind it was amazing, how rotten Konoha had been - was. What had Itachi sacrificed for? What had kept Naruto from running away, swearing to never again set his foot in this condemned place? In the end, Sasuke had long ago decided, that was just the way they were, they functioned - they were different from him, different from everybody, drowning in the sea of vileness that was human nature and still kicking and fighting and believing.

They were showing Naruto how to throw a kunai - by twisting his elbow so far it was a wonder there wasn't a sound of a joint popping out yet. Sasuke seriously dreaded taijutsu lessons - he was cranky and had real doubts about teachers' ability to defend themselves in case he attempted to snap their necks.

Hinata and Shikamaru weren't faring better, apparently - the heiress forgot completely about her shyness and had Kiba throwing funny looks at her, and Nara simply stood looking at the teacher, brows high. The Akimichi kid was yanking his friend's sleeve from time to time, but the spectacle of Madiyiri-sensei reasoning with Naruto that he couldn't possibly twist his wrist like that, even if it cracked from time to time, was surreal.

Wasn't Naruto supposed to be Konoha's greatest weapon? More like it's greatest humiliation, if one'd recall Chuunin Exams. Wasn't Sandaime supposed to keep track on him?

That would've been maddening if it wasn't so pathetic.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at the leaving teacher, caught their eye, snickered, and hit bullseye five times in a row.

"Yo! Hinata! You're, like, brave today!" Sasuke heard Kiba's hooting and turned to him, scrunching face up in displeasure. "Decided to quit stalkin'?"

Hinata's horrified eyes, Sasuke suspected, were more about the Kiba's general inappropriateness than actual embarrassment. But Kiba had died during the war, and her reactions were most likely tampered.

The only other kid to detect something out of ordinary was Choji, who kept throwing worried glances at Shikamaru, but the rest of the class was blissfully unaware of the real world. Only Sasuke did not feel jealous at all.

Naruto hightailed out of the Academy doing somersaults and singing something about the First's wig. He laughed obnoxiously and sincerely at Sasuke's mob of stalkers, ducked frow two dull kunai and bolted away.

That one Sasuke was jealous of.

* * *

I wasn't all over boys at 12, was I? Kishimoto's a damn perv.


End file.
